Huntingburg approves purchase of building to settle lawsuit

To settle an ongoing lawsuit, the Huntingburg Common Council decided to purchase a building on Fourth Street adjacent to Market Street Park.

Grant Swartzentruber of Washington-based GSES LLC, the owner of the building at 317 E. Fourth Street, filed a lawsuit against the City of Huntingburg in November of 2018. That lawsuit had three complaints against the city: 1) Equipment and materials were stored on the private property during construction of Market Street Park; 2) Improvements to the curb and gutter next to the property impeded access to the rear of the buildings for deliveries to the businesses; 3) An electrical transformer was installed on the private property.

The first two complaints were dismissed by the court. In the first one, the court agreed that Swarzentruber’s complaint was with the contractor on the project, not the city. In the second complaint, the city successfully argued it had the right to develop city property however it deemed fit.

However, mitigation regarding the use of the property without consent or compensation has been on-going between the two parties. The city has admitted its culpability in the placement of the transformer but the two parties continued to haggle over how to resolve the issue.

On Tuesday, City Attorney Phil Schneider presented the council with a settlement in which the city would purchase the building for $87,500 — the average of two appraisals the city paid to have completed — and pay $7,500 in additional damages to GSES LLC as well as $2,800 in survey costs.

“Several offers have been made back and forth,” Schneider told the council, “The city has continued to incur significant legal fees from our mitigation attorneys in Indianapolis.”

He indicated Swartzentruber was agreeable to the offer.

Schneider told the council this course of action was the recommendation from former Mayor Denny Spinner and mayor Steve Schwinghamer.

The council agreed and unanimously approved the purchase and payments.

“They (council) felt it was an important property to control due to its proximity to the amphitheater and its current condition,” Schneider said in a phone interview. “They felt it would be better to acquire the building.”

According to Schneider, the city has not made plans on what they are going to do with the building that houses China Wok and several apartments. He said that he thinks the city would like to improve the building and then resell it. A driving factor in purchasing the building besides settling the case is to improve its appearance since it is part of the entrance to the park.

“It is in pretty bad condition,” Schneider said. “The property has a lot going for it but it does need some care.”